THE OSSIGENO OBSERVATORY

Ossigeno per l’informazione is a non-profit association registered with the Register of Volunteers of the Lazio Region since July 10, 2012 with the number BO4243. The honorary chairman is Sergio Zavoli. The president is the journalist Alberto Spampinato. The secretary is the journalist Giuseppe Federico Mennella. Among others, Don Luigi Ciotti (honorary member), Lirio Abbate, Attilio Bolzoni, Giovanni Tizian are also members of Ossigeno. The association, composed mainly of journalists, manages the eponymous Observatory on threatened journalists and news obscured with violence, and is sponsored by the National Press Federation (FNSI) and the Order of Journalists. From 2014 the Observatory has been a consultant to the Parliamentary Anti-Mafia Commission and the OSCE.

Founded in 2007 following the death threats against the journalists Lirio Abbate, Roberto Saviano and Rosaria Capacchione, Ossigeno has published the names of more than two thousand Italian journalists affected by intimidation. The Observatory advocates that each of them has adequate protection and to free news reporting from the constraints due to pressures and constraints attributable to inadequate laws. At the same time it promotes the right of citizens to be informed and explores the issue of legality in the field of journalism. The data is analysed and commented in the Annual Reports. The Observatory publishes daily on the issue on the website www.ossigenoinformazione.it and a newsletter in English. It furthermore engages in continuing education for members of the Order of Journalists, and promotes the issue of occult censorship around the world.

In 2014, with the Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso, with the SEEMO (South East Europe Media Organization) and with the advice of Eugenia Siapera (Dublin City University) it has implemented the project “Safety Net for European Journalists”. The project, supported by the European Union, aims to create a transnational network of support for journalists hit by censorship, threats, violence and abuse. Safety Net is participated by media partners from eleven European countries.